Last week, the homies and I visited the Michaelle House in Vista. Why did we go? What did we do? Who lives there? Did you say Michelle Tanner?
No to the Michelle Tanner–I know, bummer.
The people who live at the Michalle House are living with HIV/AIDS, and it’s a place where they can receive care and services in order to rebuild their health and return to independent living, or where they can spend their last days in comfort and dignity.
I had been once before and loved it. It’s not fancy, and the people are not particularly friendly(you gotta draw some of them out of their shells :), but there is a sweetness to it. HIV/AIDS weakens the immune system, so many of the residents are run down, and suffering from other infirmaries. While a couple greet you, some sit outside with headphone smoking.
For many years there was a big ol’ hype about HIV/AIDS basically making most people not want to be in the same city as someone with HIV or AIDS, and while it is a very serious, and life long illness, it is very hard to catch it from someone. The truth is that the AIDS virus is very fragile and dies as soon as it comes in contact with air–it can only be passed by sex, breastfeeding or needle sharing. Turns out, no one was planning on any of those things, so we were good. When I told the homies about it, I wanted them to know these facts:
You Do Not Get AIDS From:
- Touching, social kissing, coughing, or sneezing
- Contact with eating utensils, water fountains, toilet seats, telephones, typewriters, etc.
- Teardrops, saliva, or sweat
- Using facilities such as public swimming pools, restrooms, or gymnasiums
- Being close to other people such as on a crowded bus, in a classroom, or restaurants
(I just love Allrecipes.com. When I was making the menu, I can change the amount of people it’s serving, and it calculates how much of each ingredient I need. Gracias! SO GREAT when you need to be cooking for large crowds.)
